In December 2024, BlackRock released its updated U.S. proxy voting guidelines for benchmark policies. The changes will become effective as of January 2025. ...more
This guide discusses important themes from the 2024 proxy season and developing trends we are monitoring for 2025. It also includes a “housekeeping checklist” designed to assist you as you prepare your proxy statement. For...more
On 23 February 2024, the Investment Association (IA) issued its annual letter to FTSE 350 remuneration committee chairs providing an update on the IA’s Principles of Remuneration and emerging views on remuneration matters....more
On December 19, 2023, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (“ISS”) released its updates to its Proxy Voting Guidelines. Somewhat unusually, ISS made only one change to its voting recommendation policies for U.S. public...more
On October 24, 2023, the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (together, the “Agencies”) released their final Principles for Climate-Related...more
Following up on our previous alerts looking at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed rule for the “Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors” (the Proposed Rule) and its GHG...more
If, as they say, past is prologue, then boards of directors in the United States should follow closely lessons learned by their European and British counterparts when it comes to the potential role sustainable finance plays...more
This client alert provides an overview of recent key updates on environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters from the leading proxy advisory firms and major institutional investors. We also address updated guidance by...more
The policies aim to provide crucial guidance to public companies amid the growing importance of ESG in proxy voting. In late 2021, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass, Lewis & Co (Glass Lewis), the two...more
Background On November 4, 2021, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) released proposed updates to its US benchmark voting policies for 2022, with a public comment period running through November 16, 2021. The draft policy...more
ISS has published proposed policy changes for 2022 for public comment. The following summarizes proposed changes for the U.S. market....more
Both bourses are seeking to incorporate the TCFD recommendations into their sustainability reporting regimes, extending a trend of convergence in regional ESG reporting standards. On August 26, 2021, the Singapore...more
Companies that count State Street Global Advisors as an investor should review its CEO Cyrus Taraporevala’s just-released annual letter on its proxy voting agenda, which has significant updates on voting policies with regard...more
In March 2020, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) published consultation paper CP 20/3 concerning proposals to enhance climate-related disclosures by listed issuers and clarification of existing disclosure...more
In January 2020, two of the largest asset managers, State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) and BlackRock, emphasized that they will hold Boards of Directors accountable for not making significant progress on sustainability and...more
In a significant development for ESG and corporate governance, BlackRock is now calling on the public companies it invests in to publish disclosures in line with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the...more